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Authored by:- Diprava (Intern at Legal Soch Foundation)
On Thursday, the Supreme Court overturned a 10-year-old conviction for the kidnapping and murder of a 15-year-old boy, freeing two people who were facing the death penalty and acquitting a third person who was facing life in prison. [Rajesh and Others v. Madhya Pradesh State].
Keywords - SUPREME COURT, INVESTIGATING, PUNISHMENT, KIDNAPPING, CIRCUMSTANTIAL
Justices BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and PV Sanjay Kumar's three-judge panel expressed deep regret at the ineffective police investigation and prosecution in the case and demanded the creation of a police code of investigation to direct scientific investigations. We should be deeply concerned about the inadequate standards of police inquiry that appear to be the rule rather than the exception.
In order to prevent the guilty from escaping punishment on technicalities, as they frequently do in our nation, it may be high time that a reliable and consistent code of investigation is developed with a mandatory and detailed procedure for the police to implement and adhere to during the course of their investigation. No more needs to be said, the bench noted.
An appeal concerning a 2017 Madhya Pradesh High Court decision was being heard by the bench. The convictions and sentences of the three defendants in the murder case had been affirmed by the High Court. In 2016, the trial court had found them guilty .
The top court emphasised in the appeal that there were no eyewitnesses to the kidnapping and murder, therefore the case depended solely on circumstantial evidence. The Supreme Court further stated that the evidence and supposed timeline of events contained "cavernous gaps" and "discrepancies galore. "
The justices added that police are frequently found to be overzealous in apprehending persons they believe to be guilty and compiling a case against them, with little regard for the proper procedure. According to the supreme court, this merely creates huge gaps in the chain of evidence and weak connections, as was the case in the current investigation.
The court in this case also recognised that the police had erred by relying on a confession given while they were holding the defendant. The judges also discovered that the panchnama and seizures documents were not written in compliance with the law. The Supreme Court also referred to the police's failure to interview the owners of the SIM cards allegedly used to place ransom calls as a stunning oversight pointing to a shoddy investigation.
All of this caused the Court to criticise the police for customising their investigation, exhibiting utter disregard for protocol, and pursuing some leads while ignoring others. It leaves us with no choice but to give the appellants the benefit of the doubt. In a case supported by circumstantial evidence, the higher standard of "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" would have to apply, the Court decided.
The Supreme Court was particularly baffled by how the lower courts continued to carry out the death penalty while ignoring the flaws and gaps in the prosecution's case. “No justifiable explanations as to why this case was the 'rarest of rare cases' and required such severe punishment were offered. Instead, we believe that the case's glaring flaws and holes in the chain of circumstantial evidence call for the appellants to be exonerated and given the benefit of the doubt.
According to the Supreme Court, "the standard of proof necessary to hold them accountable beyond a reasonable doubt on the basis of circumstantial evidence is clearly not established." As a result, the appeals were accepted, and the three accused were exonerated.
The defendants, Raja Yadav, Rajesh Yadav, and Om Prakash Yadav, were represented by senior attorney Sidharth Luthra along with attorneys Supriya Juneja, Bhavesh Seth, Pankaj Singhal, Aditya Singla, Shakti Singh, Ayush Agarwal, Udbhav Sinha, and Trisha Chandran. Luthra was briefed by Project 39A, a criminal justice programme at National Law University Delhi that advocates for convicts on death row. For the Madhya Pradesh government, attorney Pashupathi Nath Razdan made an appearance.
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